Further increase in numbers of children whose parents end up in Court
At the @CouplesAPPG meeting on family hubs and relationship support, @SamanthaJCallan highlighted the recent statistics from Cafcass which are cause for real concern.
In March 2021 there were 4,659 new private law cases (that is cases where parents seek Court assistance with decisions about their children). This represents 1,282 more cases than the same period in 2020. So a 40% increase. These cases involved 6,627 children, which is 1,489 more children than in March 2020. A 30% increase.
To put this in context, in 2019 the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory reported that of all the separating couples in England and Wales, 38% went to Court about the arrangements for their children. This was viewed as a public health crisis, due to the negative impact Court proceedings have on the emotional wellbeing of the adults and children involved.
And yet two years later rates are on the rise. This simply underlines the need for more to be done to enable parents to resolve these issues away from the Court arena, and view Court the way Judges do: as a last resort not a first port of call.
Author Name: Editor
Published content by The Divorce Surgery Editorial Team.
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